Bringing the Mid-West to the Middle-East: An Analysis of a Harlequin Romance in English and Turkish

Publication year
2013
Pages
160-171
Comment

According to the introduction,

capitalism depends for its continued success on recognition of difference. It has to adapt itself to different social, cultural and linguistic contexts – something that influenced all transactions conducted along the Silk Road in the past. Heather Schell’s fascinating analysis of how Harlequin romances are reworked in the Turkish context illustrates one of the complications of this point: while these texts must necessarily be reworked for their new audience, such a necessity is not acknowledged by the publishers. This conflict renders the process of adaptation invisible, Schell suggests, and therefore frees the Harlequin translators to make significant adaptations to the stories. (10)